A prepaid card is a financial product that provides an alternative payment mechanism for making purchases besides cash and credit. In practice, a prepaid card can be used similar to a debit card, where a customer deposits an opening balance, from which subsequent purchases are deducted.
The prepaid card can be a plastic card with an associated identifier, or it can rely solely on such an identifier for its existence. Therefore, the prepaid card is a specific form of debit or stored-value card. However, the prepaid card can be loaded with funds manually and is not normally tied to a bank account from where funds are withdrawn.
Online services can include Web-based versions of existing services. For example, professional services such as accounting, legal, audit can be provided over a combination of the Internet, telephone, and other communication technologies. This eliminates the need for physical face-to-face meetings between a client and a service provider.
Online applications can be Web-based versions of existing applications. Example online applications include word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation applications. Online applications are accessible to users over the Web, in contrast to traditional computing model where the applications are installed and executed at a local computer. Resulting files in online applications are also saved online and not on a local hard disk. Online applications are typically easier to maintain because users do not need to install or update software on a local machine. The application is executed at a server, with the user interface provided to the user over a network.
A large barrier to providing online software and services to users and customers over a wide network, such as the Internet, is ensuring payment. In many cases, receiving cash for payment is impractical due to physical distance and security. Furthermore, processing credit such as credit cards can be cost-prohibitive for small payments.
Thus, there is a need for a low-cost and secure prepaid card system for providing online software and services.